A chronicle of our family's transition to an off-grid, more self-sufficient and eco-friendlier lifestyle, sharing, wherever possible, helpful links and ideas, in order to ease anyone else's journey along this path

"Self-sufficiency does not mean 'going back' to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food that is organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings... and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully." John Seymour ~ Self Sufficiency 2003

Saturday, 15 September 2012

As Spring descends with it's welcome warmth, final thoughts and pictures of our first the winter on the farm.Naturally, winter is not confined to snow alone - it also includes rainfalls in the foothills of the mountains, and on our farm. Very welcome, ground soaking rain. 12mm on one Thursday night, 28mm on Friday night, and 14mm on the Sunday in the middle of August. Seriously, ground soaking rain...Which, having a clay base, means mud. Lots and lots of Wellie-sucking, boot weighing, squelching, squishy mud. And mud at your gate, and on your driveway is not conducive to trucks delivering sand, bricks and stone. So something had to be done...

Our entrance gate at the lowest point of ourdriveway - a muddy mess

RMan found the point at which the water was streaming into our driveway - and, in the cold and wet, ventured out and made a trench for the water to be diverted along.

The source of the running water

His actions encouraged the water to flow to a more suitable spot...

Directing the water along a new routeon the other side of our driveway

Down the property...

Down she goes...

And, even further down the property, until it found it's home in our dam.

Five days after the trench started filling the dam, and the water was still pouring in...

Such a small trickle at the start - you should've see it at it's height, bubbling and rushing downhill, with such a force and in such a quantity, that it was forming foam at the point of entry to the dam...

Also, the slope of the water-logged ground atthe back of the property directs the waterperfectly towards our dam - more gently, butevery drop helps...

Naturally, the water-logged ground around the dam is a dogs delight - he didn't care about bringing mud into the house and on my floors...

We had a (temporary) small island with aBlack Wattle tree in the centre

Stan the Man, the digger / loader driver who placed, and dug, our dam all those years ago, did a sterling job. He couldn't have chosen a better place for it.

You wouldn't believe the weight of myWellies

My boots got heavier and heavier - so heavy that lifting my leg almostcaused my boot to come off my foot.But - yet another surprise awaited us on the Sunday morning. I woke up, and wrapped in my winter gown, clutching my cup of tea, I walked out onto the patio. What did I spy in the dam but...... a duck! Our first wild duck in our dam LOL What excitement!

You're very welcome, Mr or Mrs Duck. Please - bring your family for a visit, and you're welcome to stay as long as you like :) There will be plenty of mozzies for you to eat, as well as a plentiful supply of frogs...

My poor old compost heap - got completely submerged again. There cannot be any goodness left in that compost heap - it must surely have all washed away...?

Drowned compost heap

A final picture of the snow on the mountains this past winter - a complete contradiction with the desert-loving aloe in the foreground and the white, snow-topped mountains forming such a stunning backdrop.

Aloes in front of the snow-capped mountains

Absolutely awe-inspiring and surreal. We are so blessed.There is still water in our dam, albeit not as much. But, at least the dam is holding rain water - for the first time... :)

congrats on the duck, Dani! you are like us - we always welcome any specie that chooses to live on our land - having your own little mini eco-system is wonderful! and tell Rman that he did a great job with the trench!

kymber - I'm also hoping the ducks eat the ruddy slugs too LOL Yeah, not too shabby a trench - clever man. But the digger loader had to be called in - wet clay is v-e-r-y heavy and very sticky. Impossible for a man to move 100 mtrs of the stuff on his own :)

Laura - Welcome and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment :)

Yeah, we've been there, and done that, too - and a Cape Cobra at that LOL(http://ecofootprintsa.blogspot.com/2012/01/look-who-paid-us-visit.html) Scary - but one of those things, because we are, after all, invading their territory.

How exciting! Its wonderful to see the dam filling up and birds coming for a visit. We have a gorgeous family of wild ducks that are around most days in our dam. This morning while I was planting trees, I saw a cormorant and an ibis as well. So gorgeous! Enjoy the wet. We haven't had rain is Brisbane for two months - not a drop. But with plenty of tanks, we're doing fine.

what a great dam and nice to see it in action, especially when it works so well. And how great to have a duck drop by. My mud boots get completely cakes like that when we get a lot of rain too. I am always SO amazed at how heavy they are. We don't have anywhere near the amount of land you do so that makes my outside wandering a lot less.

You had asked me (months ago I admit) about a stamping set that I used to do the spoon stamping I posted about. The name of the set was by Tekton and it was a 5/32" size with 36 pieces. here is a link on Amazon to the set so you can see it.

Pages

About me

Married for 36 years to RMan, mum to our two kids, Natasha and Richard, and Nana to my precious grandson, Mike, and new baby granddaughter, Hayley. If you would like to send me an e-mail, please do so to: dani at ecofootprint dot co dot za

(This pewter footprint & image is the property of Eco Footprint - South Africa and may not be downloaded, copied nor reproduced without permission)